Today is the last day to claim your free Windows 8 Media Center Pack

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If you grabbed yourself a discounted copy of Windows 8 Pro already, you’ve also got an email with a product key for a free copy of the Windows 8 Media Center Pack. What you may not realize is that if you do not activate that key before February 1, 2013 you lose it. Fortunately, Microsoft made it really easy to install from within Windows 8.

The Windows 8 Media Center Pack grants you access to a host of codecs that most people aren’t even aware that they are using every day. Every copy of Windows 7 paid out roughly $27 to companies like Dolby, the Blu-Ray Consortium, Creative, and more. Microsoft has separated this cost, and the features associated, out of Windows 8. This allows users to purchase them if they need them, and allows Microsoft to charge the same amount for Windows 8 as they did Windows 7 but keep that extra few dollars for themselves.

While many may seek alternatives to sliding Microsoft that extra $15 after today, like VLC Media Player for Windows 8, you’ve got yourself a free copy due to your early adoption of Windows 8.

To install your copy of the Media Center Pack, head to your Start page and type in “add features”. As soon as you start typing, the search page will open and show you all possible results. Right under the search box you’ll see a section labeled Settings. Click Settings to reveal the results that are found in the Settings menu. At the top of that list you will see Add features to Windows 8. Click that and you’ll be taken to a setup box on the Desktop. You’ll be prompted to either purchase a key or enter one in that you already own. Click “I already have a product key” and paste the key from your email into the box that pops up.

After you’ve entered in your product key, Windows 8 will restart. When Windows 8 returns, your Media Center Pack will be installed and very little about your computing experience from your perspective will have changed.

If you’re having trouble locating your product key, or you are concerned that it may have drifted into your spam folder, the sender for the key will be Windows@e-mail.microsoft.com. Search for that sender and you should find your Media Center Pack email. If you purchased your Windows 8 Pro copy today, it takes about an hour for the email with the Media Center key to hit your inbox. If you haven’t received one within a few hours, contacting Microsoft support is probably your best bet.